BTCC / BTCC Square / Cryptopolitan /
Saylor & Tom Lee Double Down on Crypto Bullishness Amid Strategy and Bitmine Losses

Saylor & Tom Lee Double Down on Crypto Bullishness Amid Strategy and Bitmine Losses

Published:
2026-02-21 16:06:33
19
2

Two of crypto's most vocal bulls aren't blinking.

While red ink flows from major players, Michael Saylor and Fundstrat's Tom Lee are holding the line on their sky-high predictions. It's a classic case of conviction versus carnage in the digital asset markets.

The Unshakeable Optimists

Saylor's laser focus on Bitcoin as the ultimate treasury asset remains absolute. Lee continues to forecast parabolic moves, treating recent sector losses as mere noise in a long-term megatrend. Their message is consistent: short-term pain for transformative gain.

When the Narrative Clashes with Numbers

Here's the rub—the bullish thesis keeps running into pesky realities like quarterly reports and balance sheets. It's the eternal finance dance: storytellers versus spreadsheet jockeys, with billions of dollars watching who's right.

Faith in the Face of Friction

This divergence highlights crypto's core tension. Belief in a decentralized future butts against the immediate gravity of traditional financial metrics. The true test isn't during the rallies, but when the mining rigs go quiet and the strategies bleed.

One thing's clear: in a sector built on disruptive belief, the true believers are the last to fold their cards—even when the house seems to be winning every hand. After all, what's a few billion in losses between future trillionaires?

Saylor dismisses capitulation fears

As Bitcoin tested depths around $60,000 and Ethereum dipped as low as $1,800 to start what has been a turbulent year for the crypto industry,  many publications ran headlines asking questions about what point Saylor will say enough is enough and cut his losses, which peaked at almost $16,000 per Bitcoin on the over 700,000 BTC his firm held. 

However, the Bitcoin advocate continues to adhere to a strict no-sale policy. In his latest tweets, Saylor proclaimed: “If it’s not going to zero, it’s going to a million,” referring to Bitcoin.

Earlier this month, on February 10, Saylor dismissed the notion of Bitcoin ever going back to zero as a realistic outcome. In his words: “If you think it’s going to zero, then we’ll deal with that, but I don’t think it’s going to zero, and I don’t think it’s going to $8,000, either.”

In a further show of confidence in the leading digital asset, Saylor continued, “If bitcoin falls 90% for the next four years, we’ll refinance the debt. We’ll just roll it forward,” Saylor said, implying that he can still find funds for more Bitcoin purchases even in the most bearish conditions. He also pointed to Bitcoin volatility as a reason lenders stay interested.

The executive is definitely not shying away from the volatility argument, either. In a graph comparing the volatility of major stocks over the last year, Saylor stated: “We mitigate $BTC volatility to create Digital Credit $STRC. We amplify it to create Digital Equity $MSTR,” implying how Strategy makes the most of high and low-volatility fundraising instruments. 

Strategy's Saylor, Bitmine's Tom Lee strike defiant tone despite mounting losses.

Source: @saylor via X/Twitter.

Saylor’s average price is irrelevant to the question of whether Saylor needs to sell Bitcoin, according to Arkham. “Saylor can remain underwater for as long as he wants, as long as he can service his obligations for Strategy’s convertible notes.”

Despite these headaches, the zero thesis remains far from Saylor’s mind, with the million-dollar target considered a more reasonable long-term outcome for Bitcoin.

Bitmine and Ethereum whales have avoided the worst for now

On the Ethereum side of things, max pain may still be ahead for Tom Lee and other Ethereum whales, whose profitability has steadily declined along with ETH’s slowdown from August 2025’s all-time high price of $4,946. 

According to CryptoQuant analysis, “the unrealised profit ratio for Ethereum whales has now turned negative across all represented cohorts” 

Whales with between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH portfolios are at a -0.21 figure. The 10,000-100,000 group is at -0.18, while whales like BitMine with over 100,000 ETH portfolios are in the -0.08 territory. 

The kicker is that, unlike Bitcoin, which has dipped below its level from April last year, ETH has not even revisited those lows yet, displaying commendable resilience so far.

“Should ETH decline further, these whales could find themselves in significant distress, potentially forcing them to capitulate and offload substantial portions of their holdings.”

According to Cryptopolitan reporting in mid-February, the company’s ETH holdings are now worth less than $9 billion, compared with its estimated $15 billion acquisition cost.

However, like Saylor, Lee is unfazed by the possibility of Ethereum going below its current level, citing FundStrat research comparing “cost basis” onchain, or ETH “realized price” with current ETH price to prove that ETH price is close to the bottom. 

Despite the uncertainty in the market, the leading corporate Bitcoin and Ethereum whales remain defiant that the only way to go in terms of price is up. 

Cryptopolitan price analysts see Bitcoin touching $150,000 in a best-case scenario this year, with $68,000 as the bottom. Meanwhile, Ethereum is projected to trade at about $3,284.71 by the end of 2026.

Get seen where it counts. Advertise in Cryptopolitan Research and reach crypto’s sharpest investors and builders.

|Square

Get the BTCC app to start your crypto journey

Get started today Scan to join our 100M+ users

All articles reposted on this platform are sourced from public networks and are intended solely for the purpose of disseminating industry information. They do not represent any official stance of BTCC. All intellectual property rights belong to their original authors. If you believe any content infringes upon your rights or is suspected of copyright violation, please contact us at [email protected]. We will address the matter promptly and in accordance with applicable laws.BTCC makes no explicit or implied warranties regarding the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of the republished information and assumes no direct or indirect liability for any consequences arising from reliance on such content. All materials are provided for industry research reference only and shall not be construed as investment, legal, or business advice. BTCC bears no legal responsibility for any actions taken based on the content provided herein.